Timeline of Apollo 11

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The Apollo 11 mission took place from July 16 to July 24, 1969, successfully achieving President John F. Kennedy's goal of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to Earth. Commander Neil Armstrong and Pilot Buzz Aldrin flew to the Moon on the Lunar Module Eagle while Command Module Pilot Michael Collins stayed with the space capsule Columbia in lunar orbit.

Prelude

Events before 1969 (1957–1968)

• October 4, 1957: The Soviet Union launches the first artificial Earth satellite, initiating the Space Race and surprising the U.S.
• April 12, 1961: Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin becomes the first human in space, orbiting Earth once.
• May 5, 1961: Alan Shepard becomes the first American in space on a suborbital Mercury flight.
• May 25, 1961: President John F. Kennedy addresses a joint session of Congress, committing the U.S. to landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely before the decade is out.
• 1961–1966: NASA bridges Mercury and Apollo, mastering space walks (EVAs), orbital rendezvous, and long-duration flights:
  • September 12, 1962: President Kennedy gives a speech at Rice University, and famously states, "We choose to go to the Moon."
  • November 22, 1963: President Kennedy is tragically assassinated in Dallas, Texas; six years before the Apollo 11 mission.
• January 27, 1967: A devastating cabin fire during a pre-launch test on the launchpad kills astronauts Gus Grissom, Ed White, and Roger B. Chaffee, forcing a major redesign of spacecraft safety and hatches.
• September 14-21, 1968: Zond 5, a Soviet Union space mission, flew two tortoises on a circumlunar trajectory, the first animals to fly to the Moon.
• October 11–22, 1968: Apollo 7, the first successful crewed Apollo mission, tested the Command and Service Module (CSM) in Earth orbit for 11 days.
• December 21–27, 1968: Frank Borman, Jim Lovell, and William Anders fly the Saturn V to the Moon on Apollo 8, orbiting it 10 times and broadcasting the famous Genesis reading on Christmas Eve.

Events leading up to the mission (1969)

• March:
  • 3–13: The Apollo 9 mission tests the Apollo Lunar Module (LM) for the first time in Earth orbit, practicing separation and docking maneuvers.
• May:
  • 18–26: Apollo 10 was the "dress rehearsal" in lunar orbit. The crew flies the Lunar Module down to 50,000 feet above the lunar surface, testing all procedures short of an actual landing.
• July:
  • 13: The Soviet Union launches an uncrewed robotic sample-return probe aimed at beating Apollo to lunar soil.
  • 14: The official 28-hour countdown officially starts at Kennedy Space Center.

The mission (July 16–24, 1969)

July 16, 1969

Apollo 11 launches

• 13:32: Blasted off from Kennedy Space Center atop a Saturn V rocket.
• 16:22: Translunar injection occurred to set course for the Moon.

July 17–18, 1969

• The crew performs mid-course corrections, live television broadcasts back to Earth, and routine spacecraft checks during the three-day coast to the Moon.

July 19, 1969

• 17:21: Fired spacecraft engines to slow down and enter lunar orbit.

July 20, 1969

• 13:11: Armstrong and Aldrin crawl through the tunnel from the Command Module Columbia into the Lunar Module Eagle.
• 17:44: Eagle separates from Columbia, leaving Collins alone in orbit to pilot the command module.
• 20:17: The Lunar Module Eagle separated from the Command Module Columbia. Armstrong and Aldrin touched down manually in the Sea of Tranquility with only 25 seconds of fuel remaining. Armstrong broadcasts the famous words: "Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed."

July 21, 1969

• 02:39: Hatch opens on the Lunar Module.
• 02:56: Armstrong sets his left foot on the lunar surface, famously stating: "That's one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind."
• 03:15: Aldrin joins Armstrong on the surface.
• 05:11: Aldrin re-enters the Lunar Module.
• 05:35: Armstrong follows Aldrin.
• 17:54: The Eagle's ascent stage lifted off from the Moon.
• 21:34: Eagle successfully rendezvoused and docked with Collins aboard Columbia.

July 22, 1969

• 04:55: Fired engines to leave lunar orbit and begin the voyage back to Earth.

July 24, 1969

• 16:50: The command module separated from the service module and entered Earth's atmosphere, safely splashing down in the Pacific Ocean.

Aftermath (1969–present)

Events during 1969

• July 24 – August 10: Armstrong, Aldrin, and Collins undergo a 21-day medical quarantine at the Lunar Receiving Laboratory in Houston to ensure they harbor no alien pathogens.
• August 13: The crew is honored with massive ticker-tape parades in New York City, Chicago, and Los Angeles, followed by a 21-nation global goodwill tour.
• Late 1969: NASA distributes the first lunar rock samples brought back by Apollo 11 to geologists and research institutions worldwide for chemical and age analysis.

Events after 1969 (1970–present)

• April 1970: The dramatic flight of Apollo 13 proves the life-saving adaptability of the Apollo architecture after an oxygen tank explosion en route to the Moon.
• December 1972: Apollo 17 concludes the last crewed lunar landing, leaving a total of 12 humans who have walked on the Moon.
• April 1989: NASA officially launches the Apollo Lunar Surface Journal, a comprehensive digital and archival record of air-to-ground transcripts and mission audio.
• August 25, 2012: Armstrong, the first human to walk on the Moon, dies at age 82.
• July 16–20, 2019: Global celebrations span museums, NASA centers, and media broadcasts, accompanied by the release of the critically acclaimed archival documentary Apollo 11.
• April 28, 2021: Collins, Command Module Pilot of Apollo 11, dies at age 90.
• July 16–20, 2024: Space Center Houston and international institutions host multi-day commemorations linking the historic 1969 achievement directly to NASA's active Artemis planned missions to return humans to the lunar surface.

See also

• Apollo 11 in popular culture

References

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